Blueberry Dutch Baby

This blueberry dutch baby is from my new cookbook,First We Eat. It’s been over two years since I started working on First We Eat, and the day that I’ll be able to share it with you all is finally near! It’s coming out on March 20th, you can pre-order it now, and I am *barely* able to contain my excitement. This is the book I’ve wanted to write my entire life, and I can’t believe it’s finally done and is a real thing that I’m able to hold in my own two hands. At the very root of it, I wrote this book with two intentions — I wanted to make simple and honest recipes that let the flavors of seasonal ingredients shine, and I wanted to give you the tools, knowledge, and resources to make seasonal eating and ingredient-sourcing a part of your life.

In the first portion of the book, I dive deep into all the ways you can eat seasonally and locally through your farmer’s markets, joining local CSA’s, and the like. You’ll get the inside scoop on buying ethically-sourced meats from farmers within your local area, and I’ll walk you through the process of buying it farm-direct, including how much freezer space you’ll need, the average cost, and other helpful details! I also dive into why eating locally and seasonally is so incredibly important, which I wanted to talk a little bit about here. When you buy produce at the farmer’s market, there’s a few awesome things that happen. First, the money is going straight to the farmer and not any middle-man. Plus, you can ask the farmer any questions about what they have/how things were grown/how to cook an ingredient and they can actually answer them. You also know where the food comes from, and that it was grown in accordance with the labor and growing regulations in your state. You’re also hugely reducing your carbon footprint, since that food traveled maybe 30 miles in the farmer’s car instead of 3,000 miles in a giant 4-wheeler then a shipping boat then another giant 4-wheeler.

And by buying direct from the farm, you’re greatly reducing the packaging that goes into transporting and preserving the food. Since the food is actually fresh, it doesn’t need to be packaged with/in a bunch of plastic clamshell boxes to preserve it. One of my biggest concerns with the “smoothie bowl” movement is the use of exotic ingredients that have to be shipped to the west from countries thousands of miles away with lax to non-existent labor and environmental laws. The carbon footprint that goes into shipping ingredients like coconuts, acai, goji berries and the like is enormous—not to mention the delicate habitats that are often destroyed to create these mass mono-culture farms, as well as the lack of legal protections for the people (and often times children) in those countries who are doing the tending and harvesting of these crops. Not to get super dark and heavy, but that is the straight-up reality of it. When you buy locally and eat what’s in season and around you, however, you stop supporting those broken systems and instead support the functioning ones within your own community. And that’s pretty damn awesome.

After you get all the info + tools to eat locally on a more regular basis, I have a whole chapter in the cookbook called ‘The Homemade Pantry’ that’s probably my favorite one in the book. It’s packed with INSANELY tasty and simple flavored staple ingredients that you can play with throughout your own cooking. It’s where you can get extra creative when you experiment with making dishes on your own. So things like flavored sweeteners (the chipotle honey is a Kosmas-Flores staple, as is the rosemary and vanilla bean-infused maple syrup), infused salts (the garlic and bay leaf salt is REAL good on roasted potatoes), and compound butters (highly recommend using the roasted mushroom butter on your breakfast toast with a poached egg!!) There’s also simple sauce + stock recipes that you can use throughout the book later on in other recipes, like vegetable stock, classic tomato sauce, and homemade pork stock, which I like to make in batches and then freeze for later use. Plus a BUNCH more tasty and versatile pantry staples that can be used to kick any dish up a notch. This whole chapter is meant to encourage you to be more playful in in the kitchen, to breakdown any fear of trying new things, and to help you to experiment with different flavors when you cook. Like making some rosemary-infused maple syrup for use on this blueberry dutch baby, for example.

The rest of the cookbook is broken up into four chapters based on the seasons, with sides, mains, desserts, and drinks in each one, and options for both vegetarians and omnivores throughout. Each chapter begins with a menu for a small gathering, and every course of the menu corresponds to a recipe in that chapter of the book. This blueberry ducth baby falls in the spring chapter, and is one of the easiest and quickest breakfasts to make, but has *such* a beautiful and fancy appearance that most folks aways assume it’s a tedious dish to prepare. I guarantee it is not! It’s just a delicious giant pancake studded with blueberries and drizzled with creme fraiche and maple syrup. A blueberry dutch baby is my favorite recipe to make late-spring when the blueberries finally make their appearance. The flavor of this blueberry dutch baby breakfast is taken to another level when the berries are super ripe and sweet.

All in all, this cookbook really is a complete collection of everything near and dear to my heart—from cooking simple honest food with fresh ingredients, to experimenting freely in the kitchen, to sharing food with the people you care about most—and I am overjoyed to be able to share it and this blueberry dutch baby recipe with you. I have one of my favorite spring breakfast recipes from the book in this post, but before we dive in, I wanted to share one last thing. It’s an excerpt from one of the chapters of my book, and I hope you enjoy it. 🙂

…This is what eating seasonally is all about. It is about creating community. It is about respecting nature and letting it choose what time of year is best for eating a strawberry or a turnip. It is about building moments with food year after year, ones that you can look forward to and think back on when the calendar goes round again. It is about feeling the change of the seasons within you, and enjoying how your body begins to crave exactly what the earth is offering up to you at that precise moment. Most of all, though, it is about food. A love of food. Of sharing food, of good food, and, most of all, of eating food. The best food doesn’t come from the best cooks. The best food comes from the best people. People who love to eat.”

Blueberry Dutch Baby

This is one of my favorite spring dishes from my new cookbook, First We Eat. If you're unfamiliar with a Dutch baby, it's basically a giant custard-y pancake that you bake in the oven rather than cooking on the stovetop. When you combine this with blueberries and nuts and a little bit of maple syrup, you get some real sweet breakfast magic!

Instructions

Blueberry Sauce

For the blueberry sauce, combine the blueberries, sugar, and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-low heat. Reduce the heat to low and cook until the blueberries burst and the sauce cooks down and becomes thick and jammy, 10 to 14 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Dutch Baby

For the Dutch baby, preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Set an 11-inch au gratin pan or oven-safe skillet inside to preheat for at least 30 minutes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs on medium-high speed until frothy, about 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium and add the milk, sugar, and vanilla. Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Stir in 1 cup of the blueberries by hand.

Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven and add the butter to the pan, swirling it slightly to help them melt quickly. Take care, as the butter will hiss and spit a bit when it hits the hot pan. Pour the batter into the pan and place it back in the oven. Bake until the pancake looks puffy and the edges curl up and are golden brown, 16 to 18 minutes.

Remove and garnish with the creme fraiche or yogurt and blueberry sauce. Top with the almonds, edible flowers (if using), and the remaining 1/2 cup blueberries and serve along with the maple syrup, if desired.

Discussion

I hope so too!!! You might be able to order it on amazon, though, I know they do international shipping for the book but I’m not sure if it’s only for select countries or not. Worth giving it a try, though!

Eva, first of all these photos are stunning (as usual). I especially enjoy seeing them after watching the Instagram styling segment you shared. They all turned out so beautiful.

I’m looking forward to reading your book and it sounds equally amazing. Yes, I already pre-ordered it. How nice that the release is timed (deliberately or accidentally) to coincide with the arrival of Spring.

This Blueberry Dutch Boy looks beautiful on your table as well as on that one page from the book. Wow!

Hi Lisa!! Thank you so much for your sweet words, and I am so glad you enjoyed following along with the instagram live. I had so much fun putting it together! And thank you also for pre-ordering, that means so much. I can’t wait for you to see it in person 🙂

This is insanely beautiful and I am so excited about your book, because I know it’s going to be such a visual feast. I also have a feeling that it will be one of those books that stays close to the kitchen year-round for special seasonal recipes. That chipotle honey!!!
Hugest congratulations to you, Eva!

So incredibly happy for you!! It’s been so much fun reading your blog and soaking in your gorgeous photos. I’ve been eagerly awaiting your new cookbook and so excited it’s finally coming out. You’re one of the hardest working and most creative people I know,and I’m so excited to get your new cookbook!

congratulations on finishing your cookbook, cannot even imagine how much work and effort that must have required! I know the publisher won’t need a photographer since you take such beautiful photographs, love dutch babys too, oh my haven’t had one in years, my memory is they’re always been peach or similar fruit based, haven’t made or even had a blueberry based one, great contrast in flavors, doesn’t look bad either, thank you!

These photographs are so beautifully composed and executed, I couldn’t help but make this Dutch baby for Easter breakfast! It was a last-minute decision, and I was short on some ingredients (& stores were closed!)

I was down to a tablespoon of butter, no whole milk or cream, and only had a scant half-cup of fresh blueberries. I used olive oil in the skillet, then melted the last of the butter into it right before I put the batter in. All of my fresh berries went into the batter, and I made the compote with a few tablespoons of lemon juice and 2 Tbs. more sugar, and about 3/4 c. of frozen blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. Put a splash of vanilla in there, too. I had to sub 2% milk for the batter, and really wanted crème fraîche, so I faked it by using my hand mixer on some cream cheese, which I thinned with 2 Tbs. milk, added a splash of vanilla and ~2 Tbs. powdered sugar. It made a nice, subtly tangy, not-too-sweet substitute for crème fraîche.

Big hit with kids and grown-ups alike, gorgeous presentation and easy to make! I think that we have a new Easter tradition, thank you!

I just wanted to let you know I made your Dutch Baby from the recipe in your book (love your book), but in the book it’s published as 1/4 cup of ground ginger (and the corresponding weight measurement is also equivalent of 1/4 cup). Needless to say, I used 1/4 teaspoon. FYI it’s an error in the book. Great recipe, we really liked it.